Senior Congress leader and president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee Kamal Nath on Thursday wrote to Congress president Rahul Gandhi seeking his participation in the death anniversary of former Deputy Chief Minister Subash Yadav scheduled for June 26.

The letter goes on to illustrate that Madhya Pradesh has a huge OBC population and it is expected that a large number of people will attend this function. (Source: PTI)

Senior Congress leader and president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee Kamal Nath on Thursday wrote to Congress president Rahul Gandhi seeking his participation in the death anniversary of former Deputy Chief Minister Subash Yadav scheduled for June 26.

In campaign mode, Kamal Nath’s letter to Rahul Gandhi dated may 31, which has been accessed by FinancialExpress.com, suggests that the death anniversary of the departed Congressman, a prominent leader from Madhya Pradesh, was an ‘opportunity’ given the huge gathering of people from the community that is likely to gather at the event.

“Late Shri Subash Yadav was Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and a prominent OBC leader of the state. His death anniversary (Barsi) is being observed on 26th June 2018 at 12:00 noon at Kasravat in District Khargone, Madhya Pradesh,” Nath’s letter to the Congress president reads.

While the letter would otherwise portend to be a normal invitation as a matter of courtesy, it is what follows in the letter that comes as a testament to the importance that caste dimensions play in poll politics practised by leaders cutting across political lines.

The letter goes on to illustrate that Madhya Pradesh has a huge OBC population and it is expected that a large number of people will attend this function. “Being in campaign mode, this will be an important programme in Nimad – Malwa region covering 61 Assembly segments.

“I request you to consider attending this function which shall be called as Samvidhan Bachao – Desh Bachao. I consider your participation in this programme important,” it concludes.

Subhash Yadav was a senior Congress leader and the former Deputy CM of Madhya Pradesh. he passed away on June 26, 2013 in New Delhi at the age of 67 after a prolonged illness. Yadav had also served as the chief of the Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress for some time was elected to the Lok Sabha from Khargone constituency in 1980 and 1985. He was elected to Madhya Pradesh Assembly from the Kasrawad constituency in the Khargone district in 1993 and went on to become Deputy chief minister in Digvijay Singh’s cabinet.

The Congress, which will be entering the fray in the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh with an aim to displace the Shivraj Singh Chauhan-led BJP government’s 15-year rule in the state. The Congress, which will be entering the elections under the leadership of former Union minister Kamal Nath will hope to cash in on the successive losses by the BJP in the recently concluded bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and other states. For the Congress to succeed, getting the caste arithmetic right will be important and grand old party does not appear to be skipping a beat.